Monday, November 21, 2011

Copyedits Colored Pencil Comparison - Updated!

I've been so excited about their pending arrival that I've had my colored pencils for weeks. I bought the erasable kind -- thinking I was soooo brilliant.

Until I tried to write with them.

Must. Press. Down. So. Very. Hard. And they kinda skip. It was like trying to be precise while writing with a crayon.

I handed one to St.Matt and without my prompting he said: "They're like writing with crayons."

"New colored pencils!" I demanded. Actually, it was less of demand and more of an exclamation. Perhaps a proclamation:"Let us buy ALL the colored pencils!"
And then I whined to Emily Hainsworth** that all my planning was for naught. She seconded my demand/exclamation/proclamation and suggested a comparison -- so all the credit for this brilliant idea goes to her.

I limited myself to five brands, because, let's be serious -- I've now got sixty-two colored pencils and I plan to use... ONE.

And, in a further show of self-restraint, I wouldn't let myself buy the Staedtler brand (even though they make my very most favorite revision pens EVER) because I didn't need a fancy pack for one pencil.**

To make this all scientific-ish, I sharpened each colored pencil with the same plastic sharpener. Wrote the brand, shaded, and signed my name with each.*** I used the same eraser to attempt to erase each -- and swiped it the same number of swipes (7 swipes).

Here are the results:

To be fair, these were more "erasable" when you used the attached eraser. They're also the hardest to write with & the least precise. Erasability is not worth it.

A little more precise than the erasable version... and just slightly less erasable.

The most erasable of the bunch. Decent precision. Tricky to sharpen -- the tip kept crumbling

This was my second favorite.

Least erasable but most precise -- go figure.

At the end of the day, excepting the Erasables, they're all fairly similar. I ended up deciding to use the Prismacolor because the local Michael's sells them as singles. St.Matt pointed out that if**** I happen to lose or break it, I can then go buy just another pencil, instead of a whole 'nother set.

I feel a sudden urge to write a lab report. Or do another experiment. I wonder if we have vinegar and baking soda.

Or Coke and Mentos!

No worries, we DO have safety goggles.

But I also have copyedits! Mayhaps I will put my scientific urges on pause until all my editing and STETing is complete.

Oh. *looks at the half pencil left after one night of sharpening & resharpening to maintain a tip* This makes A LOT of sense. I've already ordered a pack -- they should be here tomorrow and then I'll add their photo to the collection.

Thanks, Nova!

UPDATE The Second - They're here ---

The precision! The erasability! Dream come true. I got so excited I cut off the last letter of my last name.